Page 126 of Clint & Ivy
“Did you find anything on the town surveillance?”
“I’ve only scanned around the condos, Sorority House, and your parents’ community. Nothing so far, but I don’t know how far to go back. I’m putting extra people on the cameras around town.”
“If the Void doesn’t want to be seen, they won’t be. We should still shake down the local snitches to see if anyone’s been acting weird or come into unexpected money. Of course, we’re assuming today was the Void’s handiwork.”
“I keep asking myself why they would hit Rawlins,” Rock said and stretched his arms across the back of his couch. “The target feels puny. A meth house. A few young dipshits and an old timer aren’t the kind of collateral damage a criminal organization makes when they want to scare the top guys.”
“Do you think it was Zodiac and his boys? They got there fast.”
“It makes more sense for it to be them. They hit us just enough to make us nervous and play up their worth. Except I still don’t get why they would go after Rawlins. Causing a stink in Little Rock would be easier from their location.”
“The license plate numbers on those blinged-out SUVs tie back to Texas. Devin is shaking down the leads, but I doubt we’ll find anything except stolen vehicles.”
“Zodiac isn’t above stealing vehicles from Texas to do his little show.”
“Do you think it’s him?”
Rock considered my question and shook his head. “I think if Zodiac set it up, he wouldn’t have come blazing into town. He’d be paranoid about showing up too quickly. Guilty men often assume everyone might be onto them. But he showed up fast because it never occurred to him that we’d suspect his club.”
“He might just think I’m an idiot.”
“Even if that were the case, they know I’m not,” Rock said, smirking at the thought. “But I really don’t get the vibe that Zodiac views you as weak. He’s a guy who wins fights. You’re the son of a man capable of breaking him. There’s gotta be some respect there.”
“Okay, so let’s assume the Black Rainbow aren’t behind the attack. That leaves the Void or the Jokers.”
“I can’t imagine Tricky coming up with that plan.”
“No, but Jagger could. His president wants to drive a wedge between the Black Rainbow and us. Jagger figures we’ll be suspicious of the other club, so he hits us where he knows it won’t cause a lot of drama. None of the guys who died were important to anyone who matters.”
Rock rubbed his stubbled jaw and muttered, “The old timer had been around a long time.”
“How long?”
“Since Trigger ran things. The guy ran drugs for the old club up in Little Memphis. He only moved to Rawlins in the last decade.”
Exhaling, I closed my eyes and admitted what I had fought to accept since I got the call about the attack.
“It’s the Void, right? That’s where we are now.”
“Probably, but if this morning was the depth of the Void’s talents, I’m not impressed.”
Standing up, I walked to the windows. My thoughts flashed to Ivy’s uncle fighting for every damn thing in the Reno house. I figured Linus was making a strategic choice to regain control of Ivy. But now, I considered how his reaction might be more personal. The asshole wasn’t thinking about her inheritance. He was being petty because she had dared to stand up to him.
“Smart men make stupid choices when their egos are bruised,” I said to Rock over my shoulder. “We’re confused by this morning’s attack because it didn’t hit us hard. A lost meth lab and four nobodies felt insignificant. But maybe it wasn’t about us or our business. The attack might be personal.”
“But we know those assholes made a show for everyone. This wasn’t a guy fighting over a woman.”
“No, but the old timer worked for Trigger. Zodiac claimed someone in the Void wanted revenge on Little Memphis. If we assume the hit today was personal and the old timer was the main target, where does that leave us?”
“We need to find out more about him and who he ran around with back in the day.”
“Zodiac thinks he can smoke out the Void by finding the guy focused on Little Memphis. He might have the right idea. But we can’t wait for the Void to keep attacking us and hope to use the targets to link us back to the enemy. If these attacks are connected to shit that happened before we were born, we shouldn’t come at the problem like professionals. If it’s personal for the Void dickhead, he won’t make the smartest choices.”
Rock scowled hard and muttered, “Trigger ruined a lot of lives back in the day. The list of his enemies would be long.”
“Don’t do that,” I warned Rock and sat across from him. “Don’t make assumptions. We can’t assume the Void asshole was Trigger’s victim. He ran Little Memphis for a long time and had plenty of allies. Many of those people got pushed out or targeted when Trigger died and Joker took over. We might be looking at a disgruntled fucker wanting paybackforTrigger, not against him.”
“There’s no way to know. Today’s attack doesn’t give us much. If the Void asshole is connected to Jagger’s grandfather, he and Tricky might be in the know in the way we aren’t.”
